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USA TodayJul 23, 2023
The Facts
A study conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) found "no evidence" that Facebook's spread throughout the world was consistently linked to negative well-being. Researchers studied nearly 1M people across 72 countries between 2008 and 2019.
The research, which didn't study other Meta-owned apps such as Instagram, divided users into two age groups, 13-34 and 35+, though it didn't analyze data for young people as a separate group. It also didn't examine the risks presented by certain types of content, such as material promoting self-harm.
The Spin
Narrative A
The popular belief that social media is a detriment to society and our well-being doesn't add up when compared to the data. Previous studies have already shown that reports on negative body image and suicidal thoughts are blown out of proportion. While anti-social media activists like to compare Big Tech to Big Tobacco, another thing they're missing is that social media actually has positive effects alongside their statistically insignificant negative consequences.
Narrative B
While the size of this study should be appreciated and used for further research, it really doesn't provide a cause-and-effect result. The researchers even acknowledge that they didn't show the typical "97.5% credibility threshold in all cases," as well as that young people today don't even use Facebook. Concerns surrounding social media's impact on mental health are still legitimate, so we shouldn't let this correlative study sway our thinking.
